The first two days of the well promoted Thailand reopening have seen a total of 4,510 passengers arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport and six of them were actually found to test positive for Covid.
It’s not listed what the nationalities and origins of the infected passengers were but one thing is certain, their holiday/arrival has now taken an unpleasant turn as they’re now isolated at their own expense.
Thai media is rather tight lipped about these six cases and what happened to them, it hasn’t been on the front pages anywhere which I’m not surprised about.
Yesterday the Bangkok Post had one article mentioning the arrival numbers as well as the Covid cases.
There were 4,510 arrivals through Suvarnabhumi airport on Monday and Tuesday after the country’s reopening to vaccinated visitors on Nov 1, with fewer than 1% testing positive for Covid-19, according to the government.
Releasing the data on Wednesday, Dr Sumanee Wacharasin, hazard communication director of the Department of Disease Control, said the top five countries of origin were Japan, with 725 arrivals, followed by Singapore with 387, Qatar with 365, Germany with 283 and China with 273.
Testing on arrival revealed three visitors were infected with Covid-19 under the “Test and Go” process for fully vaccinated travellers from specified countries. This was 0.07% of all visitors under the “Test and Go” process, Dr Sumanee said.
Another three arrivals who were subject to quarantine also tested positive. They accounted for 0.94% of all visitors in this group, she said.
While the number sounds low it still makes you wonder how a passenger that is vaccinated and just got a negative PCR test suddenly tests positive (assuming you accept both test results as valid). Unless of course they’re neither.
Keep in mind that there is no formal requirement for Thai citizens who choose to undergo regular ASQ Quarantine to get PCR tested prior to departure for purposes of entry into the country. The airline might still require it though. Likewise Thailand does accept unvaccinated foreigners as visitors as long as they do the mandatory 10 day quarantine, however unlike Thais these foreigner have to present a negative RT-PCR test result prior to departure.
While it’s nowhere mentioned where the infected passengers came from and of what nationality they were I think it would be important to know these details to make some important decisions related to future travel planning.
Thailand is going to isolate any passenger seated around Covid positive passengers at their own expense and if it turns out there is a certain risk group such as untested, unvaccinated Thai citizens then I’d rather fly with an airline who wouldn’t accept passengers under these conditions.
For example Etihad or Singapore Airlines require a negative test result for all passengers no matter if the destination demands it or not. Choosing an airline that has such restrictions in place would mitigate your risk considerably.
As far as the arrival numbers are concerned they are rather solid compared to the sandbox numbers in Phuket. Of course the overall count is still a drop in the bucket from where it was pre-pandemic. I find it especially interesting that there were 273 Chinese travelers considering they need government approval to even leave the country at the moment. With higher up connections such approval is probably easy to obtain.
Here are my two recent articles concerning the Thailand reopening:
Thailand Increases List Of Quarantine Exempt Countries To 63, Alcohol Ban Lifted In Blue Zones
I was taking a walk through Bangkok yesterday and noticed quite a few people who fit the tourist profile including many of the unsavory kind that are usually to be found in the more seedy areas of the city. Didn’t take long for them to arrive. That’s certainly something I didn’t miss during these last 18 months here in Thailand.
Conclusion
4,510 arrivals were counted for Monday and Tuesday at BKK International Airport. These passengers were then processed and send on their way to the prebooked hotel where they underwent a mandatory PCR Test from which a total of six passengers (3 quick arrivals, 3 quarantinees) tested positive for Covid-19.
Officials and news sources didn’t further go into the origins and nationalities of the infected passengers. All passengers who wish to use the Thailand Pass Quick Entry or the Sandbox Models are required to be fully vaccinated and be PCR tested prior to the flight. Those who are unvaccinated and go into ASQ Quarantine are a different story as far as risk is concerned, especially Thai citizens who don’t have to produce a negative test before being allowed to board. I’d be very careful where I’m seated but of course it’s close to impossible to mitigate that risk.
Sure you can ask the check-in staff to seat you far away from anyone who fits a certain risk profile but if they’re able to follow that request is another matter. The best would probably be to fly an airline who requires a negative test for all passengers. Again the issue is not only being infected by someone but being seated in the immediate vicinity and then hauled off to quarantine due to Thailand’s overzealous policies.
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“While the number sounds low it still makes you wonder how a passenger
that is vaccinated and just got a negative PCR test suddenly tests
positive (assuming you accept both test results as valid). Unless of
course they’re neither.”
There is absolutely nothing surprising here. Even the best PCR tests have a sensitivity of at most 98 or 99%. That means at least 1 to 2% of infections are not caught during the initial PCR.
Furthermore, people traveling to Thailand from, say, Germany, will typically have some contact with non-tested and sometimes with non-masked individuals, for instance at the airport lounge. (For example, for almost all Schengen flights, 3G is sufficient. And 3G allows for relatively unreliable antigen testing. There is also the potential of breakthrough infections among the vaccinated.) So they might catch covid-19 on their way to Thailand.
Plus the 3 day advance testing limit. Rather useless.
Some people are presenting fake PCR test results from obscure labs. This was happening so often with flights from India that Canada now only accepts test results from 2 labs that they contracted.
“Noticed quite a few people who fit the tourist profile including many of the unsavory kind”
Are you referring to the losers who love Pattaya and usually complain the loudest about alcohol bans?
I am not missing these clowns as well to be honest. They have a bad vibe and are the reason why some people are fed up with tourists.
Surprised that some travellers from China managed to enter as I thought there were some pretty draconian flight restrictions at the moment.
So you’re disparaging Brits,since they make up ~90% of the aforementioned group you referenced. What do you have to say about Indians or Chinese? Or do you hate all races?
Unless you have issues with English language, the OP did not mention Brits as far as I understood. It is not about where they are coming from Mr Smart John, it about their behavior
Obviously YOU have issues with the English language. “Are you referring to the losers who love Pattaya and usually complain the loudest about alcohol bans?.
I am not missing these clowns as well to be honest. They have a bad vibe and are the reason why some people are fed up with tourists”. And thanks for recognizing my intelligence. Appreciated.
Bangkok needs to be a little seedy. This makes it unique.
Hi everyone, is anyone familiar with the tourist Visa renewal process in Thailand?
I recently asked for a 30-day extension and got it fairly easily.
Questions:
1) If I exit the country after 60 days (flying to Vietnam or Malaysia for instance), am I allowed to return one day later and get a new 30 tourist visa?
2) If not, how long to I need to stay out of Thailand before I am allowed to return with a Tourist Visa?
Asked some official but they were not clear in their answers. I’s rather spend winter in Thailand than in Germany 🙂
Why don’t you get the STV if you want to spend the entire winter? I wouldn’t count on easy cross border traffic between Thailand and neighboring countries.
@@SebastianAtLoyaltyLobby:disqus Thanks.
I am currently in Bangkok with a tourist visa.
Is it possible to transform this tourist visa into an STV visa?
If that is the case any link url to suggest on the procedure to follow?
How about if flying business or first class? Would you still be isolated for sitting close to someone?
Thanks for the update. If you learn more about the current quarantine process please write a post. We delayed our trip to February, the mail in the coffin was when I shared the two weeks in a hospital for positive that you described in your Phuket posts.
To be clear what I mean is how does one quarantine if you test positive on arrival. Lets say you have no symptoms can you quarantine in a SHA hotel, or will your party be sent to a hospital? If you are sick and end up in a random hospital could you transfer to another of your choosing? etc… Thanks for all your posts on Thailand its helped a lot thinking about our possible trip and what to expect.
Im curious about the upcoming story if tens of individuals seated near these positives were hauled off as well despite a negative test…and what they were told. The silence from the govt should give pause to planning a trip. im sitting back until they are more transparent!
“I was taking a walk through Bangkok yesterday and noticed quite a few people who fit the tourist profile including many of the unsavory kind that are usually to be found in the more seedy areas of the city.”
Ah, back to your old form Sebastian? Or did you just walk past a mirror and didn’t notice? 😀
By the way, on nationalities of incoming passengers, has it not occurred to you than not all Chinese nationals live in China?